A lot can change in 28 years, and Google has put together a very graphic demonstration of just how much can happen geographically with a new effort that combines global, annual Landsat satellite image composites with its Google Earth Engine software.

When it comes to mortgages, homebuyers answered basic questions about terms, how to choose a lender and financing wrong nearly one-third of the time, according to an April survey of more than 1,000 current and prospective homeowners by real estate website Zillow.

The venture that took over nearly 500 units in three failed South Loop condominium projects last year has already sold more than 100 a few months after re-launching sales, another good sign for the recovering downtown condo market.

Almost 3,000 residential properties in Cook County were scheduled for foreclosure auctions in April, a level not seen since August 2010. The 2,945 scheduled residential auctions compares with 1,563 in March and 1,844 in April 2012, according to data to be released Thursday by RealtyTrac. While not all of those properties would be expected to complete the auction process, the uptick is considered a step forward in the local housing market’s recovery.

Kwikset announced on Thursday a Bluetooth-enabled deadbolt lock that pairs up your iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, and will let you into your abode with a single touch. From the looks of it so far, there won't be an easier way to let yourself into your home.

Bottom line: we all assume things. But we don’t realize how often we do it. Assuming can cause major problems in our communications. That’s why 37signals’ Jason Fried suggests communicating with people the same way we would program a computer.

Metropolitan area median home prices continued to rise in the first quarter, with the national gain showing the best year-over-year performance in over seven years, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors®. A companion breakout of income requirements to purchase a median-priced home on a metro basis shows the typical buyer earns roughly double the income needed to buy a home in his or her area.

Share this KCM Blog infographic highlighting how many taxpayers in different states are claiming the mortgage interest deduction, an important tax benefit that facilitates homeownership. Illinois taxpayers claim the deduction at a higher rate than the U.S. average of 25.5 percent, according to the infographic, which uses data from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Facebook appears to be close to making another billion-dollar acquisition to once again ramp up its mobile efforts: according to three reports in the Israeli press at Calcalist and sister publication Ynet and The Marker (all in Hebrew), Facebook...

Microsoft is offering to pay $1 billion to buy the digital assets of Nook Media LLC, the digital book and college book joint venture with Barnes & Noble and other investors, according to internal documents we've obtained...

If you didn’t have a competitor in this world, you could afford to be out of stock, leave broken links on your website and provide poor customer service. But here’s the thing — 95% of the time customers do have another option. They can type a new web address, drive down the street, or switch service providers (what a pain, but we’ll do it!).

According to the CFPB, their mission is “to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans — whether they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products.”

Big investors are pouring unprecedented amounts of money into real estate hit hard by the housing crash, bringing those moribund markets back to life but raising the prospect of another Wall Street-fueled bubble.

Drawn by the prospect of double-figure profit margins on rents and the resale of homes whose prices plummeted in the crash, hedge funds, Wall Street investors and other institutions are crowding out individual homebuyers.

Since the first disposable diapers hit the market until now, parents haven't needed an electronic device to tell them when their baby has wet himself. Huggies Brazil is attempting to address this perceived need with TweetPee, a fictional plastic device that attaches to a diaper and then tweets when your young one has urinated.

For the millions of Americans who lost their homes in a foreclosure or short sale during the recession, things are starting to look up. In addition to receiving a piece of the $3.6 billion settlement that banks are distributing to borrowers who were wrongfully foreclosed on, some homeowners are now becoming "boomerang buyers" and re-entering the market after a foreclosure or short sale.

Can you trademark a holiday? Disney learned the hard way this week it’s best not to try, as the studio’s attempt to register “Dia de los Muertos” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was met with vociferous criticism. The company has since withdrawn its applications

NAR claims that there will not be any way to game their rating system. There is always a way to game the system. If a bad review is going to hurt my ability to make a living, I will game the system. Are Realtor associations really going to allow bad reviews of dues-paying members to be displayed on a website, when our code of ethics prevents us from saying anything negative about one another?

They could decide not to be involved with NAR or NAR may decide to value that code of ethics of that which I believe they have a class on. Truly though we do have the BBB for all business' and they tell of complaints. The thing that comes down to it seems to be the code. The question is who is keeping the code perfectly? This we can never know except when there is enough people in an area to vouch for the upright RE Agent.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® held its annual Spring Conference and Expo, May 8-9, at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, Ill. The event featured a chance for REALTORS® to earn CE credit and network. Watch video highlights

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